California high school football is back. Like, all the way back.
Participation in all high school sports in California? Never been better.
Those items come to light in a census released Monday by the California Interscholastic Federation, prep sports's governing body in the state.
In 11-player high school football, participation numbers for 2025 are more than 91,400 -- the sport's highest mark in-state in seven years, greater than 2019 -- the year prior to COVID -- and up 7,000 from participation in 2022, when California relented on its extreme COVID measures and prep football was fully reinstated.
Overall, in a survey in which CIF officials said more than 1,600 member schools participated, high school sports participation in the state established an all-time record with 821,586 competitors in the 2024-25 year.
“With more than 821,000 student-athletes participating in education-based athletics in California, it’s clear that the value of high school sports is stronger than ever,” CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti said in the organization's release. “The surge in girls' flag football participation is particularly inspiring and reflects our commitment to expanding opportunities for all students to belong, connect, and compete through education-based programs.”
Eight-player football in California had its second-highest mark all-time and eclipsed all pre-COVID numbers in the process.
Soccer in California also set an all-time mark for most participants, besting its pre-COVID 2018-19 numbers by 2,000 and 3,000, respectively, at 56,884.